Engage me or Enrage me...

Hmmmmm. This was a very interesting article. I loved how straightforward and factual the athor was - he took no pains to pander to his audience or to sugarcoat the issue - instead he very openly talked about how we as a society are boring our kids right out of the classroom and into the waiting arms of media, technology, and a new kind of education. He then posited that it is up to us to "engage" students on their level and not try to pretend that they are interested in the dry, uncreative curriculum of the past. The consequences of failing to engage students where they are is that we will instead "enrage" them - possible to the point where they tune us as educators out completely. I really appreciated how candid he was about the failure of the education system to make adjustments to integrate the technology these kids are using into their classrooms. Kids today are fully capable of learning on levels that we do not give them credit for. and if we fiind a way to tap into the way they best learn, then, quite possible, they will give us more than just blank stares and rolling eyes. To give a child a lecture when what they are begging for is an interacitve lesson that brings in elements of technology and that challenges them on more than an auditory level, is like giving a plant water but keeping it in the closet when it is begging for sunlight.

I would be interested to hear what everyone else thinks on this topic and whether or not they have seen firsthand how this affected a classroom for better or worse.